Software Snafu Delays Bar Exam Submissions

Taking the bar exam is nerve-racking enough. But in multiple states this week, many would-be lawyers who sat for the lengthy test had to cope with a whole new level of stress after a software processing glitch temporarily prevented students from submitting their answers.

Some test-takers experienced slowness or difficulty in returning completed exams Tuesday to company servers using company software, vice president of marketing Kenneth Knotts said early Wednesday.

He said the “processing issue” did not impact the exam takers’ answer content, and that all the state bars that had not yet received all exams had extended their deadlines because of the issue.

“This was not at all a system-wide failure. The experience was a delay and some difficulty” in uploading the files, he said. “At no point in time was the integrity of their exam files ever affected.”

Mr. Knotts told the AP that he couldn’t say for sure how many test-takers were affected by the mishap. But he said most users were able to upload their exam files as of early Wednesday.

In a statement, he said it took the company “approximately six hours longer than usual to process all of the exam takers’ answers onto our servers.”

According to ExamSoft’s website, more than a dozen states, including New York, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, gave students more time to hand in their tests with most deadlines extended to Thursday evening. Many of the exams were administered Tuesday and Wednesday.

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